Thursday, July 18, 2013

On Modules: Play on Target Ep. 14

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For this episode of Play
on Target we take on the question of modules. Or rather we circle around
the question of which modules mattered to us and why we don’t actually use
modules very much these days. I certainly have some great memories of modules
that absolutely worked (or didn’t work) at the table. My reviews of The Enemy Within series and variousLegend of the Five Rings modules come from a real
love of them. But I’d say these days I buy fewer of them, despite
being the primary GM in my group. At a guess, I’d say only about 15% of my rpg spending
goes towards these knds of products. Yet I still recall the idea of modules
fondly…

If there’s a disadvantage to age-range and experience of the
podcast crew, it might be that we have a certain focus, in this case on D&D
and related materials even when we don’t play it currently. That serves as such
a common language that we end up talking about those modules more than others.
So other popular lines get left to the side. For example, Deadlands has
a mass of really interesting modules- from micro-adventures to large scale
campaign arcs. That game had a lot of traction around in our area. Consider the
various classic World of Darkness lines- most of which had modules which
actually moved the metaplot forward. Despite that, products like Loom of Fate and Blood Bond always
ended sitting on the shelves when other sourcebooks had a decent churn. It was
interesting to see Steve Jackson test the waters of published adventures (Flight 13) and then
quickly back away.

RESPECT YOUR ELDERS’
SIGN

We don’t really touch on the game line with the most
legendary modules, Call of Cthulhu. While some could be weak- others
like Masks of Nyarlethotep and Horror on the Orient Express
remain benchmarks for the genre. I played through some of those and read
through more. CoC generated some of the wildest and most amazing material. Strange Aeons
I’ve used and repurposed. It gets even better when you included the material on
offer from secondary publishers- Glozel Est Authentique! and others from TOME; most of Pagan Press's output.
Pagan's Walkeri n the Wastes, Devil's Children,
and The Resurrected - Volume One: Grace Under Pressure all kicked ass. One
advantage CoC had and still has (well, until we see what the next system is
like) is universality and the ease of moving adventures between editions.

KEYSTONE STORIES

I recall several other modules quite fondly- the cornerstone
adventures for anyone wanting to play the game. For example GW1: Legion of Gold,
with the awesome Jeff Dee (correction: Bill Willingham) cover, came out every time someone ran Gamma World…with
GW2: Famine in Far-Go as a close second. Champions had The Island of Dr. Destroyer- which I saw run over and over again. Even
more awesome was DeathDuel with the Destroyers, written and drawn by Fables creator
Bill Willingham. I saw the characters from that module repurposed more than any
other in our group. Then there were the James Bond modules, especially Dr. No- which despite
being taken directly from the film offered hours of gaming. I think I ran that
three times. The The Free City of Krakow was the touchstone module for players of Twilight 2000.
I also remember playing various modules and adventures from Daredevils
and Bushido with some relish.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

One issue we don’t address is the economic problem of
modules and adventure material. They’re aimed at a fraction of the market. That
makes them inevitably lower sellers than other kinds of products. Players might
pick up sourcebooks because they’re interested in reading about a particular
faction or place. But they’re not going to buy modules. The new digital
marketplace takes some of the pressure off the publisher- not having to invest
in a print run, not having to try to get it on store shelves. But you still
need good solid modules to back up the ideas. I think Pelgrane Press does this
as well as anyone. They have awesome and interesting module support to most of
their game lines. Products like Dead Rock Seven
and Hard Helix
help GMs see what kinds of stories can be told in that setting. They also do a
good job of offering modularity- with ides for how to restructure and rebuild
the stories.

If you like RPG Gaming podcasts, I hope you'll check it out.
We take a focused approach- tackling a single topic each episode. You can
subscribe to the show on iTunes or follow the podcast's page at
www.playontarget.com.